Half Of Children Have Seen Parents Drunk

Half of children aged 10 to 14 think they have seen their parents drunk at some time, according to a survey commissioned for CBBC's Newsround.

The survey results were revealed on CBBC's Newsround as part of a wider exploration of the issue of alcohol and how adults' drinking affects children's lives.

The survey conducted by children's research specialist Childwise, for CBBC Newsround, asked 1,234 children and teens aged 10-14 from across the UK questions about their views on alcohol.

Almost three-quarters of the children (72) thought they had seen them drunk.

When given a list of words to describe how they felt when they saw adults drinking, almost half the children (47 said it made them feel scared.

Eight in 10 children (81) said it made adults act stupid or silly; a fifth (20) said they became happy and funny; 19 said they became loud and swore; and 17 of all children interviewed said they will drink when they are older.

Owenna Griffiths, editor of Newsround, said: "Alcohol can be viewed as a taboo subject when it comes to children. But it is around them, and we wanted to acknowledge it as a subject that many of them would have questions about.

"The programme explores kids' attitudes towards adults drinking – how it makes them feel, whether it has influenced how they will behave when they're older and what they think is too much to drink."